Stunts Biography - Paul Baxley

Episodes

tos

The Enterprise is travelling near the edge of the Galaxy when it discovers an object floating in space. Beaming it aboard they find that it is an old-style ship recorder, something vessels would jettison in case of an emergency. Since it is damaged Spock surmises that the vessel it belonged to was destroyed. The recorder is triggered and begins transmitting its records.

The officers go to the bridge where Spock scans the message. The recorder was jettisoned by the SS Valiant some 200 years ago. Kirk informs the crew about the discovery and meets Dr. Dehner, a psychologist who is aboard to study the effects the stresses of shipboard life have on Starfleet personnel. Gary Mitchell tries to flirt with Dehner, and is strongly rebuffed - prompting him to refer to her as a "walking freezer unit".

Spock interprets the rest of the Valiant's message, reporting that the ship was thrown clear of the Galaxy by a magnetic storm. Although the record is damage he finds repeated references to ESP capability in Humans, including searches of the computer for information of the subject which he classifies as being almost frantic. Dehner claims that there are some Humans who can see the future or manipulate objects with their minds, though this is never very powerful in Humans. Spock continues with his report - he finds records of deaths aboard the Valiant, more ESP research, and then a self-destruct order by the captain.

Although concerned, Kirk decides to proceed with his mission to probe beyond the edge of the Galaxy and takes the ship ahead. They discover a massive energy barrier and are able to penetrate it, but the ship is badly damaged and both Mitchell and Dehner seem to suffer some physical distress as a result. When Mitchell opens his eyes, they have become silver in colour.

Kirk takes the ship back on impulse power, with the warp drive damaged beyond repair. Spock does some research and finds that both Mitchell and Dehner have been recorded to have a high ESP rating, with Mitchell the highest. Others killed during the encounter with the barrier suffered damage to a specific region of the brain.

Meanwhile Mitchell is reading in sickbay. He claims to feel fine - better than he ever has, in fact. But his manner seems odd, arrogant and almost threatening. After Kirk leaves he begins to read at an extraordinary rate, digesting whole pages in an instant. Spock is monitoring this, and he and Kirk assign security to keep an eye on Mitchell. In sickbay Dehner talks with Mitchell and he begins to demonstrate unusual abilities - causing his life signs to blank out at will, showing his as dead on the monitor. He also reveals that he has not only read by perfectly memorised countless books. Lieutenant Kelso arrives for a visit, reporting on the sad state of the engines. Mitchell warns him to check the starboard impulse engine packs, explaining that there is a problem which they have missed and which will cause the entire deck to explode if they don't correct it.

Kelso checks and reports to Kirk that Mitchell was indeed correct. The officers discuss the situation, with Scotty reporting that the controls in engineering started working on their own a short time ago - and each time it happened, Mitchell could be seen smiling on the monitor. Spock suggests that Mitchell's power is growing exponentially, and that he will inevitably come to see Humans as insignificant compared to himself. They decide to hear for a nearby automated outpost on the planet Delta Vega, hoping to cannibalise it to repair the warp drive and strand Mitchell there where he can do no harm.

They successfully repair the engines, but Mitchell kills Kelso by using his powers to strangle him, and escapes his confinement. He knocks out the others and finds that Dehner has also developed silver eyes - she is undergoing the same transformation, just more slowly since she had a lower ESP rating in the first place. The two escape the station together. When Kirk recovers he takes a phaser rifle and goes after them.

Mitchell and Dehner begin converting part of the desolate surface of Delta Vega into a garden-like environment. Mitchell is declares himself a God, with Humans suitable only to be his worshippers. He tries to kill Kirk when he finds the pair, but Dehner rebels against his arrogant attitude and attacks him with her powers. He survives the attack and strikes back, killing her, but his abilities are temporarily drained. Kirk fights with him, and finally uses the phaser to blast a large rock off a cliff side, killing Mitchell when it falls onto him.

Back on the Enterprise, Kirk grieves over the loss of his friend as the ship heads back on warp drive.

The Enterprise is visiting Argelius II, a planet whose philosophy heavily emphasised hedonism and pleasure. Kirk and McCoy are accompanying Scotty on shore leave, enjoying some female entertainment in a local bar. Scotty recently suffered a near-fatal accident caused by a woman, and there has been some concern that he harbours a deep seated resentment of women as a result. The shore leave is an attempt to get him over this feeling.

The therapy seems to work, and Scotty accompanies one of the dancers home through the quiet night. However, shortly afterwards the woman is found stabbed brutally to death, with Scotty standing over the body paralysed with shock, holding a knife in hands covered with blood.

Scotty claims to have no clear memory of exactly what happened. Mr Hengist, the Chief Administrator of the planet, demands that Scotty be confined whilst the crime is investigated. However the planet's leader, Prefect Jaris, suggests that his wife Sybo may be of use. She has some form of empathic ability which he thinks may be of value. Kirk has Lt. Tracy beam down from the ship with a psycho-tricorder, which will be able to probe Scotty's memories of the event and determine his guilt or innocence.

As she prepares to administer the test they discuss another suspect, the dancer's former fiance Morla. He was jealous of the attention her dancing brought from other men, a reaction the Argelians consider to be shameful. Morla is questioned but claims that he had nothing to do with the crime. As the testing of Scotty begins the lights black out and there is a scream; when the lights come on again Lt. Tracy has been stabbed to death and once again Scotty is standing practically over the body. With the only other entrance to the room locked, it appears certain that he is the killer.

Prefect Jaris insists that his wife carry out a kind of seance. She appears to enter a trance-like state, speaking of a great evil, a hunger which can never be satisfied. She calls out several names, "Beratis", "Kesla" and "Redjac". As the seance reaches a crescendo the lights black out - and as they come back on Sybo lies dead, and once again Scotty is apparently the killer despite having no clear memory of what happened.

Mr Hengist is completely convinced that Scotty is guilty, but Kirk convinces Jaris to beam up to the Enterprise so that Scotty can be subjected to computer analysis - this will provide a definitive answer as to his guilt or innocence, regardless of any mental failings. The test shows both Scotty and Morla to be innocent of any wrongdoing. When Scotty talks of feeling a cold, evil presence in the room when the lights were out Kirk begins to suspect some form of creature may be responsible, something that feeds on negative emotions and attacks women to cause them. Although Hengist finds this answer incredible, the computer confirms that it is possible and Jaris seems open minded. The computer cites creatures native to Alpha Carina V who subsist on the emotion of love; this being apparently subsists on terror. It is suggested to be incorporeal, existing as a formless being but capable of taking solid form at will - much as the Mellitus cloud creature of Alpha Majoris I that can change from gaseous to solid forms.

They run the names spoken by Sybo through the computer and find that Beratis and Kesla are the names of mass murderers of women on Rigel IV Deneb II respectively, neither of whom were caught. Redjac is a mystery until the computer checks variations and finds 'Red Jack', another name for the infamous Jack the Ripper from Earth history. Further analysis shows a string of such murders throughout history - and the trail leads directly towards Argelius, with the Beratis killings happening on Rigel IV less than a year ago. Further, the knife used in the killings on Argelius is of Rigellian design. Kirk notes that Hengist is from Rigel IV, and arrived about a year ago.

As suspicion turns on Hengist he becomes agitated and attempts to flee, only to be knocked down by Kirk. However, he dies on the spot. The ship's computer begins to go out of control, telling the crew they will all die - apparently the Hengist creature has abandoned his physical body and infested the computer in an attempt to terrify the crew.

Kirk has McCoy dope up everyone in the crew, putting them into a state of mild euphoria. Spock orders the computer to calculate the value of Pi to the last digit, an insoluble problem which will suck up most of it's resources. Hengist is forced from the computer and returns back to his body, but he is injected with the same drug the crew have taken. Although the entity cannot be killed in the conventional sense, Kirk has it beamed into space on a wide dispersion - scattering it across space and effectively destroying it.

The Enterprise is visiting the planet Gamma Trianguli VI. A landing party finds the planet to be a paradise, with a planetwide warm climate. However, a call from Scotty on the ship brings trouble - the ship is experiencing a minor problem with the antimatter pods, possibly related to abnormalities in the magnetic field of the planet itself. Spock's tricorder detects underground vibrations coming from all directions, vibrations which he thinks are artificially produced. As the landing party scouts around they detect a life form nearby, apparently somebody watching them.

They proceed towards a nearby village, but along the way the planet offers up a few surprises. A rock explodes when tossed to the ground; a plant fires poison darts; a freak storm suddenly blows up and Spock is struck by lightning. It appears that Gamma Trianguli VI is not so pleasant a place after all!

Meanwhile on the Enterprise, the problem becomes worse - the antimatter pods have become completely inert, as if some external force had extinguished them. Without main power the ship is all but helpless and unable to beam the landing party up.

They reach the village, although two of the landing party are killed on the way by the planets strange dangers. Kirk manages to capture the native who is watching them, and they demand to know what is going on. The man claims to be the "leader of the feeders of Vaal." They continue on to the village with the man, who is named Akuta. He agrees to take them to Vaal - which proves to be a giant stone head reminiscent of a reptile. The head is surrounded by a powerful forcefield, making any approach impossible. They go back to the village to rest. Kirk notes that there are no children there - prompting confusion from the natives, who apparently have no idea what children are. Vaal, they say, has forbidden men and women to touch one another, and there is no reproduction allowed - much to McCoy's disgust. The Doctor scans the people and finds every one of them to be in perfect health, without any sign of ageing amongst them.

Vaal calls the villagers, and they bring supplies of food to place inside the head - the forcefield apparently allowing them in to feed their god. Kirk ponders whether Vaal might become weaker if it is denied the regular influx of food. Kirk and McCoy seem determined to destroy Vaal, claiming that it is stifling the right of the natives to a "free and unchained environment" and any chance to grow and develop as a culture. Spock warns that they are simply applying human standards to a culture which they may not apply to - the villagers surely have the right to choose a system that clearly works to provide them with long term stability.

Scotty reports that they are detecting a steady decrease in Vaal's power readings, possibly a result of the food being used up. He is working to boost the output of the ship's impulse engines, though this will take a good eight hours to accomplish. In not much longer than that the ship will fall into the atmosphere and burn up.

In the village, two of the natives observe Chekov kissing one of his female comrades and become curious as to what it is like. This apparently angers Vaal, who communicates with Akuta to tell him to kill the landing party. Vaal provides instructions on how to use violence, and the natives mount an attack. However, although one of the Enterprise crew is killed the natives are quickly defeated.

Scotty manages to complete his modifications and boost the ship into a slightly higher orbit, but he only gains an extra hour or so. Kirk decides to starve Vaal in an attempt to weaken it, and then orders the ship to direct a phaser barrage at the force field around it. Vaal is forced to expend its remaining energy to defend against the attack, and becomes inert. Without the field affecting the ship, full power is quickly restored.

Kirk tells the natives that the Federation will provide them with assistance until they can cope with life on their own. Although Spock expresses some concern with their actions the Captain is happy at the outcome, and the ship proceeds on course.

The Enterprise discovers the wreckage of the SS Beagle, a survey vessel missing for six years. The sensors indicate that the wreckage originate at a nearby planet, the fourth in Star System 892. The ship proceeds to the planet to search for survivors, with Kirk hoping to locate the Captain, R.M. Merik, who was a friend of his.

On arrival they intercept television broadcasts from the planet indicating that the civilisation there is a close parallel to the Roman Empire on Earth, only in this case the Empire never fell but continued to progress technologically until it reached a level comparable to mid 20th century Earth. But the Empire retains the brutality associated with ancient Rome, including televised Gladiatorial combat. The crew witness such a combat and notice that the defeated 'barbarian' is William B. Harrison, the flight officer of the SS Beagle.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to investigate the situation, arriving a short distance outside the city the broadcast was coming from. Unfortunately they are quickly captured by a renegade group calling themselves the Children of the Sun; a religious cult who apparently engage in sun worship. Former champion Gladiator Flavius Maximus is amongst their number, a man who renounced his violent ways when he joined the group. Kirk convinced the group's leader, Septimus, that the landing party is from a ship offshore. He explains why they are there and Spetimus suggests that Merik could be Merikus, the First Citizen. Septimus asks Flavius to lead Kirk and his officers into the city in disguise. Unfortunately they are soon spotted by the police and captured.

Taken to the city, Kirk manages to convince his captors to allow him to meet Merikus. It is indeed his old friend R.M. Merik, captain of the Beagle. Merik takes Kirk to Proconsul Claudius Marcus, who to Kirk's surprise knows all about the offworld origins of Merik and Kirk. Merik explains that when the Beagle was lost his men were stranded on the planet and left with the choice of assimilating or being killed. Those who refused to assimilate were forced to fight in the Gladiator games until they were killed. Claudius demands that Kirk contact the Enterprise and order the crew to beam down to their own fate, but Kirk gives the coded command Condition Green - signalling that the landing party is in trouble but forbidding any rescue attempt. With this, and the planet's status as a pre-warp society, there is virtually nothing that the Enterprise can do to help. Claudius is surprised by Kirk's resistance, and orders Spock and McCoy sent to the games to be killed.

Kirk is made to watch as Spock and McCoy fight Flavius and another Gladiator. Spock is easily able to defeat his opponent thanks to his superior Vulcan physique, but McCoy only survives because Flavius holds back. Kirk feigns amusement at the spectacle, pretending not to care if his officers are killed, much to Claudius's surprise. Merik chimes in that as a Starship commander, Kirk is the very best Humanity has to offer - far more capable than himself, as he tried and failed to achieve such a post. In the end Spock overpowers both opponents, which is against the rules of the combat. Claudius spares them, thinking to use them as further leverage against Kirk.

McCoy and Spock are put in a cell, where Spock rebuffs McCoy's attempts to thank him for saving his life. McCoy angrily accuses Spock of being so desperate to hide his emotions that he's terrified of actually living his life fully. When Spock refuses to engage with the conversation McCoy wearily admits that they are both just worrying about Kirk.

Kirk, meanwhile, is being kept in far more luxurious surroundings. Claudius assures him that in the end he will have no choice but to compromise - and a beautiful slave girl, Drusilla is sent to seduce Kirk as part of the "carrot" part of the carrot and stick approach.

The Enterprise picks up a broadcast announcing Kirk's execution in the arena. Scott, frustrated at his inability to intervene directly, decides to scan the power sources on the planet and simultaneously disrupt them all for a few moments. He hopes that this demonstration of the power of the ship might give those below some second thoughts, whilst not counting as a direct intervention.

Kirk is taken to the arena for his execution. He manages to escape thanks to the power blackout, though Flavius is killed in the process. He frees Spock and McCoy from their cell, but the police arrive and engage them in combat with swords. Merik uses a communicator he has stolen to contact the ship and tell them where the officers are, and is stabbed and killed by Claudius. As the guards open fire on Kirk, Spock and McCoy the three officers are beamed away just in the nick of time.

Back on board, Spock muses on the parallels between Earth and Planet 892-IV, although he notes that ancient Rome did not have Sun worship. Uhura, who has been monitoring the planet's broadcasts, chimes in to say that they have all misunderstood the situation. The rebels do not worship the Sun, but the Son - the Son of God. Kirk marvels that 892-IV had Ceasar and Christ both, and wonders what it would be like to watch the inevitable spread of Christianity on the planet. With that, the ship departs.

The Enterprise is visiting an idyllic planet to do some research there, as McCoy describes the biology there as "a medical treasure trove". Kirk, who performed the initial survey of the world 13 years previously, described it as a near perfect planet which should be left undisturbed so that the peaceful but primitive inhabitants could progress in their own way.

Unfortunately it seems that the natives are not so peaceful any more - Kirk sees a group of Villagers setting up to ambush some Hill People using flintlock firearms. Worse, the Hill People are led by Tyree, whom Kirk met and befriended on his previous visit. Unable to use his phaser to intervene directly, Kirk lobs a rock at the Villagers, prompting one to fire accidentally and thus warning the Hill People. The officers quickly retreat as the Vilalgers give chase, but just before they can beam out Spock is shot in the back.

Aboard the Enterprise McCoy works to stabilise Spock, but can give no guarantee as to his prognosis. Kirk decides to head back down to investigate the planet further, and McCoy decides to join him - leaving Spock in the care of Dr. M'Benga, a specialist in Vulcan medicine who interned in a Vulcan hospital ward.

The ship's sensors detect a Klingon ship in orbit of the planet. Realising that it hasn't spotted them yet Kirk orders the ship to stay out of sight if possible, even if it means leaving orbit. He and McCoy beam down in native disguise and start to search the area for signs of Hill People. Unfortunately they are attacked by a fierce local beast called a Mugato, and Kirk is bitten. The Mugato bite is poisonous, and Kirk quickly falls unconscious. McCoy calls for help, but the Enterprise has left to avoid detection.

Tyree and some Hill People arrive at the scene and take Kirk and McCoy to their village. Tyree's wife is Nona, a local "Kahn-ut-tu woman" who is knowledgeable in the effects of various plants and animals on the planet. She goes to the cave where McCoy is looking after Kirk, and sees the Doctor using his phaser to heat some rocks to provide warmth. Intrigued, she demands that Tyree tell her everything about Kirk or she won't be able to cure him of the Mugato bite.

Nona treats Kirk with a "Mahko root", a thing that appears half plant, half animal. She places it on the bite and cuts her own hand open to place it on the root, chanting an incantation. The bite is completely cured within moments, leaving Kirk awake and aware. Tyree glumly states that according to legend, the mingling of the blood through the Mahko root means that their souls have met in the spirit world, and Kirk will be unable to refuse Nona any request from now on. It becomes clear that Nona uses her skills to dominate and manipulate as much as to heal and help.

Once Kirk is up and about, Tyree explains that the Villager's "fire sticks" appeared about a year ago; as far as he knows the Villagers make them themselves. Kirk asks Tyree to help him sneak into the Village at night to investigate. Nona is hopeful that Kirk's arrival will allow the Hill People to start fighting back against the Villagers, though Tyree wants no part in violence and merely hopes that the Villagers will eventually return to their peaceful ways.

Once in the Village, Kirk and McCoy find a chrome steel drill and carbon-free iron, along with cold rolled gun barrels - none of which could have been produced in the primitive forge that the Villagers possess. Soon a Klingon appears with the Village leader, Apella. Kirk overhears the Klingon discussing new weapon advancements that he will soon give to the Villagers, and how one day Apella will become governor of the whole planet - as a subject world of the Klingon Empire. Kirk and McCoy escape, taking a flintlock with them.

Back on the Enterprise Spock has been in a healing trace. He wakes, asking Nurse Chapel to strike him repeatedly in order to help him fully back to consciousness. She reluctantly does, much to the consternation of the passing Scotty. M'Benga explains that this is actually standard practice for Vulcans, and Spock has now recovered from his wound.

On the planet Kirk is demonstrating the operation of the Flintlock rifle to the Hill People, much to McCoy's consternation. Kirk justifies his apparent violation of the Prime Directive by stating that the Klingons have already upset the natural balance here, and the only thing to do is to restore the balance by giving equal weapons to the Hill People so that they can defend themselves. Although horrified, McCoy can offer no viable alternative.

Kirk encounters Nona away from the Hill People's camp, and she seduces him by rubbing leaves from some local plants on his arm, inducing a sort of hypnotic daze. Tyree sees this and raises the flintlock, moments from killing for the firt time. But he instead throws the weapon down in disgust and storms off angrily. Suddenly another Mugato attacks the pair, but the addled Kirk manages to vaporizes it with his phaser. Nona knocks Kirk out and steals the weapon, making off to find some Villagers. She finds a small group and proclaims that she now has the ultimate weapon, far more powerful than their "fire sticks". The Villagers don't believe her, and when Nona is unable to work out how to fire the weapon she is quickly captured. Kirk, McCoy and Tyree arrive on the scene - but the Villagers think that this was a trap, and one of them stabs Nona in the stomach. The Hill People and Villagers charge one another, and an appalled McCoy watches as the Hill People defeat them - with Tyree beating one man to death with a rock, lost in rage.

Afterwards, Tyree orders the few escaped Villagers hunted down and killed, and takes a flintlock over to Kirk to ask for "more of these, Kirk - many more!" The Enterprise arrives back in orbit and signals Kirk. He reluctantly asks Scotty how long it would take to manufacture a hundred flintlocks for the natives. Kirk is beamed up and the ship heads out of orbit, the deadly cargo presumably delivered.

The Enterprise arrives at the star Minaria, due to go nova in a short time, to evacuate a Federation research outpost which has been monitoring the system. On arrival Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to find the facility deserted. They choose to remain on the planet when a giant solar flare forces the Enterprise to leave the system for several days, confident that the atmosphere will protect them from any radiation. No sooner has the ship left than the landing party is beamed to a chamber deep underground where they encounter Gem, a mysterious alien woman with empathic powers but no language capability. A pair of aliens called Vians appear and explain that they are testing Gem to see if her species is worth of salvaging from the effects of the nova. Gem is capable of using her mental abilities to absorb the pain and injuries of others into herself; the Vians intend to torture the Enterprise officers in order to find out whether Gem will cure them despite the suffering it will cause her. If she is ultimately willing to sacrifice herself for others, the Vians will take this as a sign that her life is worth saving.

The Vians put the Enterprise officers through a series of ordeals, with the three practically fighting amongst themselves to be the one who will be tortured in place of their friends. Ultimately Gem does indeed take all of their suffering upon herself, ending her own life. Declaring themselves satisfied, the Vians return the Enterprise officers to their ship and the Enterprise continues on its way.